SuperDreadnought
by MatrixFan10121
Summary: Admiral William McGinnis launches a new ship design, the superdreadnought, but will its existence be enough to protect the Klingons from the Borg?Chapter 4 now up! Please R
1. Part 1: Chapter 1

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT Part I: Chapter I

By: Tony E. Aguilar

Command Log: Stardate 56215.4: Admiral William McGinnis,

Commanding USS Ticonderoga reporting:

We will be ready to launch this new ship in less than a day. The ship is the latest in Federation design, and unfortunately, its powers may not be sufficient to successfully prosecute our mission. I will command this vessel in her first, and hopefully not last, mission. If we succeed, the quadrant will be safe. If not, all of the civilizations in the area are likely to fall to the…

Admiral McGinnis shut off the recorder, and prepared to leave his quarters. Where the old-class ships had been powerfully armed and heavily shielded for their times, this ship was the best-armed, best-shielded ship in space, without exception. "Their times," god... he thought to himself, it was only thirteen years since he had taken command of the new defender-class ship called.

Although the ship had been built as a warning to the Federation's enemies, with far heavier weapons than anything of its time, compared with this new vessel, was a light-cruiser at best. It had been a long thirteen-year period, highlighted by the attack on the Klingon home system, which had brought the to their decision to break the treaty of Algeron. Their fleet had barely defeated the single cube, and had suffered staggering losses in the effort. Now, they were building up their forces in preparation for an offensive against territory. The Romulans, not believing the' effort would end against the had also exceeded treaty limitations with their newest ships, and, fearing that it would be left behind, the Federation had begun building a new fleet, with the new Ticonderoga class as its centerpiece.

These ships carried phase-cloaking technology, a new hyper-accelerated collimator ring capable of three times the destructive output of the old-class technology, rapid-fire phaser batteries with independent power supplies, contained-plasma torpedoes, triple shielding, and, most importantly, a back-up forced quantum singularity generator, capable of fifteen-minute bursts of power, sufficient to power the ships' vastly powerful weapons and shielding. Each of these ships could handle twenty of the old war-bird class ships, given proper circumstances... The question, simply put, was could they handle a single (or more likely), multiple ships.

McGinnis sighed as he left his quarters, it wasn't really his job to worry about design specs. His job was to go to the Klingon home world, in order to meet with Gouron in order to plan allied strategy, against both and Romulans. Star Fleet hoped that this brand new ship would be as powerful a sign of commitment as the presence of Jean-luc Picard's Enterprise had been in the first battle, four years previously. Unfortunately, Enterprise had been destroyed in the battle, and it was rumored that some of the ship's officers had been taken by the. McGinnis sincerely hoped, for their sakes, that they had not.

The bridge doors opened, admitting him to Ticonderoga's heavily armored command center.

"Admiral on the Bridge," said Lieutenant-commander Walter Schultz, Tactical officer, and third-in-command.

"At ease, ... report on status of our undocking preparations?" said McGinnis as he moved to the center seat.

"All systems have been checked, all power conduits and back-up systems show clear, computer is on-line, weapons at standby, warp drive is available, phase-cloak is available, and torpedoes are still being loaded sir.", said Captain Data, who had been loaned to McGinnis' command after Star Fleet realized that there were no officers aboard Ticonderoga who had any significant experience with the. Such experience, it was thought, would be critical, particularly in the planned meetings with the Klingon Command.

"Thank you, Captain. Operations, do you have a listing of the other ships that will rendezvous with us at the Klingon Capitol?"

"Sir, Star Fleet reports that they can not give us a complete list, but three task forces are expected to arrive within twenty-four hours after our arrival. They will be commanded by captains Shelby and Stromgren, and Rear-Admiral De. They expect a minimum total of four dreadnought-class, five cruiser-class, and eleven support vessels. All have had the new sensor modifications installed, and most are carrying phase-cloaking devices. However, they will be able to provide comparatively little fire-support, and the have already suggested that this vessel is the only one in which they are interested."

"I see, the smaller ships may prove a liability, but I really don't like the' dismissal of them out-of-hand. Commander, forward the information concerning our fleet strength to the Klingon council, and tell Gouron that I will want to discuss the use of the smaller ships with him immediately on our arrival."

"Aye sir," replied Janet Anders as she turned back to her console.

McGinnis sat back in his chair, thinking about the tremendous change that had come over Ms. Anders over the last few years. She had come aboard a young lieutenant junior-grade, who was impatient for results, believing that things could be had if you wanted them badly enough. The last years had molded her into a fine officer, patient, cunning, and compassionate. Assuming that all of them survived the upcoming mission, she would make a fine ship's commander. However, more important matters awaited them at the moment.

"Mr. Data, what is the current report on our earliest possible departure time?"

"Assuming that all of the loading is proceeding at the projected rate, we should be able to depart the dock in thirteen hours, eight minutes fifteen seconds."

"Thank you, ms. Anders, please have dock ready to clear us in fourteen hours. Until then, I want all of you to take added time off, because after we leave dock, I suspect that none of us will be getting much rest for quite some time."

At this moment, a lieutenant from engineering hastened onto the bridge, and reported that engineering com systems were down; that this was related to a slight instability in the quantum core; and that Commander Macleod thought that repairs would take about four hours. Until the repairs were complete, it would be impossible to generate anything more than 25 power from the auxiliary generator.

"Lieutenant, Tell him that since we won't need the added power until after we leave Klingon space, I suspect that he can fix the problem in transit. If he has further concerns, have him report to me directly, and make sure that someone finds a work-around for the comlinks, since the optical controllers aren't up yet, we're totally dependent on our communicators."

"Aye Sir," she said as she rushed ac into the turbolift.

"Unless anyone has other concerns, I'm going to be in my quarters, you can reach me there, ...Mr. Data, you have the bridge." said McGinnis. He rose and left the Bridge, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that all was in order before he left.


	2. Part 1: Chapter 2

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter II:

McGinnis turned over in his sleep, and then snapped wide awake. He reached over to hit the com switch, opening a channel to the Bridge.

"McGinnis here," he said.

"Sir, you asked for notification when we were one hour from launch," replied Data's voice.

"Thank you, I'll be up in thirty minutes, I want all senior staff on the bridge at that time."

"Yes sir, I will ensure that everyone is here."

"McGinnis out."

After a quick shower and change of uniform, McGinnis left his quarters for a quick snack on his way to the Bridge. Ever since the dimensional transit several years previously, he had always been too nervous to eat full meals during his ships' first voyages. He had been a young, inexperienced commander then, and the physical and psychological stress of that mission had been quite enough for an entire lifetime. Most of his crew had spent a number of weeks in hospital, and it had been more than six months before they had been permitted to return to duty.

The doors of rec-1 opened silently as he approached, and he was just as glad. Although Alpha shift would be going on duty any minute, the room was somewhat crowded with crew as they either relaxed or lined up to throw their dishes into the recyclers. McGinnis moved quickly to the bank of replicators placed near the door. Although the bar was open, he didn't have time to chat, and he didn't want to interrupt the other shifts' relaxation with his uniformed presence. Though he didn't usually demand tremendous discipline from his crew when they were off-duty, seeing him in uniform often caused all of his crew to treat him with what other commanders called "Captain on the Bridge" manners. Now, there was no reason for it, and so he tried to avoid bothering them, while still gauging their stress level as the ship's launch time approached.

After ordering a quick BLT and salad, he turned to leave, so that he could eat in his small ready-room, located a short distance from the main bridge. Just before he could slip out the door, a young crew member moved to intercept him.

"Sir," she asked somewhat timidly, "I was wondering, what do you think our chances are?"

McGinnis looked at the slender young woman, whose face was lined with stress.

"Chances of what? ensign, he asked, knowing full-well what she meant.

"Of surviving our mission against the."

"Well, that isn't our mission as yet, Although the plan to attack, I haven't received orders to help them yet, and we're still hoping to keep them from going. I think we've got a good shot."

"I hope so, sir, I want to come back from this."

McGinnis sighed to himself, wondering for the thousandth time, why Star Fleet Command had insisted on sending mere kids on this mission, and on this ship. Kids deserved the chance to grow up, and this ship wasn't meant to keep them out of danger. It might be the best protection ever built once there, but it was always best to avoid battle whenever possible. Even if that avoidance meant threatening the other side with guaranteed destruction, a threat that this ship was quite capable of backing up.

"Ensign, we all want to come back, and I, for one, feel that not coming back is simply unacceptable. You know your duties well, so do them to the best of your ability, and we all will have a better chance of getting back."

"Aye sir," she said, still somewhat unconvinced.

McGinnis made a mental note to check with Commander MacLeod to see how she was doing when they reached the Klingon home planet.

He quickly left Rec-1, and entered the turbolift.

"Conference 1," he said and the turbolift began a sideways motion.

After his small meal, McGinnis rose and walked down the slightly curved corridor that led to the main bridge entrance.

"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he rose from the command chair and moved to the first officer's station located in the semi-circle of stations surrounding the central well of the bridge.

"At ease," said McGinnis as he sat in his chair, placed at the center of the semi-circle of stations; "All stations report."

"All computer systems show green, all processors on line, security board is green, all auxiliary systems available," said Data.

"Weapons control systems show green, main ring, rapid fire phasers, auxiliary collimators and plasma torpedoes at standby. Phase cloak at stand by, all shields show ready for activation." said Schultz.

"Helm and nav systems show ready," said Thale, the Andorian lieutenant at helm/nav station.

"Engineering systems all show green, except for the auxiliary generator," said Commander Anders. "All communications systems show green, save main communications in the engineering hull, but optical links are now up."

"All sensors available, all science departments reporting ready for

launch," came T'Mayek's report from the science station. "good, I want to brief you all on the upcoming mission. As you know, the Klingon fleet has been built up to levels not seen since the Klingon/Federation hostilities ended seventy years ago. Their build-up is in direct response to the attack on their space more than four years ago. Nearly sixty vessels were lost, and a period of political instability has ensued. Many of the' internal political problems are still on, so be ready for surprises. House Durass has been pressuring for a renewal of the old Klingon/Romulan alliance, and their views are being heard, particularly due to the fact that Federation assistance, in the Klingon view, was limited. As you know, we lost less than ten ships in those actions, including two defender-class ships and the flagship. This vessel, along with a large number of other ships is to proceed to the Klingon home planet in order to show them that we will support their offensive against the Borg should that become necessary. Since Captain Picard's death, there have been few officers whom they respect. Largely because of our successful prosecution of the campaign against the Cardassians last year, we have been ordered to head the fleet with this new ship, in order to attempt to convince the to hold their attack. This is my intention, but I want all of you to know that I think it unlikely that we shall succeed, and I want all crew members to begin full testing of the new armor suits that we are carrying. Should we come into contact with the, I suspect that they will be necessary. This ship is well equipped, and its technology is different than anything that we have confronted the with in the past. However, this does not mean that you should be over-confident, or that you should expect that we will give quarter to the, should be succeed in doing significant damage to any forces that we should meet. If we can do so, we will destroy their ships without question, and there will be no exceptions made. Until further notice, all of us, plus Commander MacLeod will be on stacked shifts duty, so that at least two command-chain officers are on duty at all times. We are going into an unstable situation in the Klingon Empire, and I need say nothing more about the. Are there any questions?"

"Yes, Sir," replied Data, "Will we be trying to capture technology?"

"Yes, my orders do provide for that possibility, and that is much of the reason for the training in the new armor suits. We will only try to get hardware, no "members", will be taken, as I don't want to risk having the rest of the Collective tracing our location through any prisoners that we may take."

There was a pause, while all of the officers sat considering what they had just heard. Despite that fact that most of them were from defense command, and not exploration or science headquarters, talk of all-out war was uncommon. Furthermore, talk of breaking every treaty and moral regulation that governed the Federation's many civilizations was a bit hard to digest. However, the were an unusual enemy, and if they were to be defeated, unusual methods would clearly be necessary.

"Are there any further questions?" ... "Very well, we are now less than half an hour from departure, so please double check all systems, and notify me when you are ready. I will be in engineering. Mr. Data, you have the conn."

McGinnis entered the ship's great engineering deck. The room, one of the largest pressurized contained-volume structures ever build in space, was nearly half a kilometer long, a tenth that broad, and twenty meters deep. The great main energizer ran much of the length of the room, a glowing crystalline tube that split at the saucer-end of the engineering hull into a rough Y-shape with a great ball at the apex of the three sections. Beyond this ball, the entire hull began to narrow until it was closed off by another ball-shaped structure, the ship's primary auxiliary power generator, the forced quantum core.

It was toward this end of the room that McGinnis moved, in search of Robert MacLeod, the ship's chief engineer. Finally, after some searching, McGinnis found him working near the main control panel for the auxiliary power core.

"Chief, we're less than half an hour from launch, and I'd like you to be on the bridge when we depart if possible."

MacLeod turned to his commander, and one of his closest friends.

"William, you know that I'd not miss it if I could, but these repairs are going to require my main attention for at least another two or three hours, and with the schedule that we have to keep, I'd like to get them done before we get to Klingon space."

"If I didn't know you better, I'd think that you were having some kind of a premonition," said McGinnis with a small smile.

"No, no premonition, just the expectation that we won't get to the Klingon home planet without trouble. , Romulans, its really all the same, they may operate differently, but their intentions are more-or-less the same; and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to let a cranky system make today my day to die. Especially when I have the ability to fix it."

"Very well, but don't over work yourself now, I suspect that all of us will have more than our fair share of work over the next weeks."

"Agreed, and the more that I can do to ensure that the work's in the hands of tactical, the happier I'll be."

"Well, good luck, and at least try to watch the departure on the monitors, we have optical up, in case your staff was avoiding you."

"As a matter of fact," said MacLeod, now grinning too, "Lieutenant Furgisson did say something about that, I'll have to make sure that she doesn't talk to me while I'm working, something like another officer I know."

"All right, All right, I'm going," said McGinnis laughing.

"I'll see you later," replied MacLeod turning back to his work.

McGinnis left engineering, satisfied that the work there was proceeding well, and that MacLeod wasn't driving his staff too hard. With the high level of automation, there were comparatively few jobs for the crew to carry out directly, and so as long as the computer-controlled repair systems were functioning, the ship could be handled by as few as two crew members, with little loss in efficiency. However, some engineers, MacLeod included, liked to have their people check the computers' work, while it was progressing. This often meant that the engineering staff was run ragged during the ship's barely-completed construction phase. McGinnis had heard some of the younger engineers say that they were looking forward to the mission, simply so that they would have to do less work. he hoped, for everyone's sake, that they would be proven right.

The turbolift doors opened, and McGinnis stepped in.

"Weapons-control center," he said to the computer.

The lift accelerated sideways as it traveled nearly the entire length of the engineering hull. It then shot up at a flat angle, passing the ship's plasma torpedo bays, through the dorsal connecting main and engineering hulls, and then began to decelerate as it entered the main hull through one of the struts connecting it to the mega-collimator ring surrounding it. The doors opened, allowing access to the airlock that was one of the four physical access points to this room, the most heavily shielded location aboard ship.

McGinnis entered the smallish room, which was about the size of the main bridge. Computer stations ringed the entire room, allowing interface with any of the ship's seven-dozen weapons and defensive systems. When in battle, a full staff was located here, in order to take over from the bridge, should it be compromised in any way. Between the nearly two-meter thick armor, transporter shielding, and built-in phaser defenses, this room was considered nearly impregnable to anything short of the, and even these would need time to break into this room.

McGinnis sat at the main status board, and requested a full computer and weapons status check. Almost immediately the computer responded with a report far more detailed than that obtainable from the Bridge. It showed that all primary, secondary, and distributed computer systems were fully available, weapons were all operable at maximum efficiency, and that primary, auxiliary, and secondary shielding was all available. All power transfer systems were clear, and all switching hardware was available, should it become necessary. Beyond its architectural benefits, the room's equipment was voice-controllable, making it possible for a very small number of people to handle the task of fighting the ship, should that become necessary. McGinnis had never fully understood why such capabilities weren't a part of the Bridge as well, but the "standard" explanation that such controls might loose efficiency in the higher activity of the Bridge would have to do.

After completing the status check, he returned to the Bridge, and saw that there were about ten minutes before launch.

"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he returned to his station.

"At ease," said McGinnis somewhat absently.

"All stations, a brief final word before we go. This is the newest in Federation technology, and despite the problems that we are still having with the quantum generator, I am highly confident in this ship's ability to handle anything thrown at her. As no other ships are scheduled for departure, and we are loaded and ready to go, I suggest that we get under way... Helm, stand by thrusters, engage navigational deflectors. ..., notify dock control that we are departing early, and that this vessel,

USS Ticonderoga, NX4000, is hereby commissioned by me, as of Stardate 56217.4"

"Aye Sir," replied Thale and Anders.

"Dock reports clear for launch, and congratulations. They wish us good luck sir," said Cmdr Anders.

"Helm, ahead one quarter maneuvering power, as soon as we exit dock, come to 128.35 mark 23, and set main velocity at warp 9. ... Tactical, engage phased cloaking device immediately."

"Phased cloak is now engaged," replied Walter Schultz.

"We are now clearing dock, entering course 128.35 mark 23, our velocity is set at warp 9."

"Mr. Thale, ... You may proceed," replied McGinnis.

The ship, already invisible, accelerated to warp 9, on its way to beginning a mission that would probably be critical to Federation history for the remainder of the century.


	3. Part 1: Chapter 3

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter III

Commander's personal Log: Stardate 56229.3 Star Ship USS Ticonderoga:

Admiral William McGinnis recording.

We are now two days out of construction dock, and insofar as we can tell, no ships observed our departure. As only Gouron and the three Federation task force commanders know of this ship's existence, I am relieved by this. We are still several hours from the Klingon home planet, and as all systems have continued to function perfectly for the last forty hours, the tension aboard ship seems to be decreasing by the hour. This, of course, will soon change, as we are about to enter the most difficult part of this mission. If I succeed in convincing Gouron to hold off in his attack, all sides will have more time to prepare. If I do not, we may be facing the before the Federation is ready for a war on this scale.

Because we have been very fortunate over the last seventy years, we may have become too complacent, too ready to expect that our enemies can be argued into taking our view of things. The only exceptions to this are the Cardassians, who are not a threat to the Federation anymore, and the Romulans, who are so weakened by political turmoil, that they pose little threat most of the time. They, however, are another matter.

Even with the loss of the collective now under the leadership of "Hugh", and the losses encurred at Sol, and in the Klingon war, they still pose an overwhelming threat. Why they haven't tried a more concerted attack is beyond me. So far, they have, apparently viewed us as "irrelevant," with only our technology as "relevant,". What happens if they suddenly come to the understanding that if they are to get our tech, they will have to kill us all. Then we will become "relevant," and I do not look forward to that day. The question, simply put, is whether the' planned offensive will make us "relevant," or not.

McGinnis sat back, wondering what needed to be done. With a crew of less than 400, many of the duties that went along with being a commander of a Galaxy-class ship were unnecessary aboard this vessel. There were two reasons for the small crew. Firstly, the ship's tremendous automation, something that had been designed into her with the in mind. The second, put simply, was that this ship's living quarters were not large, as the equipment that supported the weapons, computers, and shielding of this vessel, plus extremely heavy structural members took up tremendous amounts of space in a hull barely larger than a Galaxy-Class ship.

McGinnis rose quickly, remembering that he would have training in the new suits of heavy-duty armor, with which this ship was equipped. Like so many other parts of the ship, this was new equipment insofar as "regular" star fleet personnel were concerned. The suits were full-body units, with a small back-pack nuclear reactor, mounting locks for various beam and missile weapons, and a small shield generator. It was hoped that these would allow the crew increased survivability and effectiveness should it become possible to transport aboard a ship.

During his ruminations, McGinnis had put his suit on, left his quarters, and proceeded to Holo-1. His suit was all white, with a phaser rifle bracketed on his right wrist, a head-mounted laser canon, and a grenade launcher, that for on-board exercises, would fire simulated sonic grenades, since the real article would wreck both holo-simulator and user, shield or not.

The holo-simulator's doors opened silently, allowing McGinnis an unrestricted view of the combat already taking place. Several of his security crew were in their armor, blasting a contingent of simulated that had apparently tried to beam into engineering. McGinnis entered the battle, arm-mounted phaser-rifle flaring. He quickly found that the had adapted to this weapon already, and that heavier blasts would be required. Unfortunately, his armor was in its default configuration, meaning that its heaviest beam weapons were not available. He fired the head-mounted laser canon, whose raw output was many times that of the phaser. However, because it was an inefficient energy weapon, he could do little but rock the simulated soldiers. The security crew, meanwhile, had been firing their plasma canon, and their heavy graviton weapons. These could punch through the shielding available on the units, but the combined firepower of all ten security suits was required to breech the shielding on one soldier. However, it appeared, assuming that Federation intelligence was correct, that the average units could be defeated, even at their maximum adaptive efficiency.

McGinnis smiled under his helmet, for although this was not a total victory, and a larger team of would be able to defeat his crew, it did appear that effective offensive and defensive action would be possible against the for the first time. This was decidedly the best news that he'd had all week!

After a few minutes, his crew had defeated the remaining, whose attempts to capture McGinnis had failed due to his suit's shielding. Again, this was fortunate, since a sufficient number of them would have been able to break through, but, in limited action, the suits' shielding would do exactly what Star Fleet Engineering had hoped that it would do: save the wearer from absorption.

At this point, the holosimulator shut down suddenly, the lighting went red, and the ship-wide klaxons went off.

"Red Alert, Red alert, this ship is now on red alert, ... Commanding officer to the bridge." said the computer.

"McGinnis to Bridge," said The Admiral as he struck his com badge.

"Sir, we have a cloaked ship on scan, signature suggests that its Romulan!", replied Lt.Cmdr Anders' voice.

"On my way," replied McGinnis, not even wasting time to discard his armor.

The Bridge doors opened, and McGinnis, now minus his helmet, moved quickly to his chair. Data, who had been anticipating his arrival had already vacated the command chair, and was sitting at his post.

", tight beam transmission to the Klingon home world," prepare a subspace buoy for immediate launch."

"Aye Sir," replied Anders, "Buoy ready, Klingon council chamber now on main visual."

The transmission was rather scrambled as transmissions from phase-cloaked ships were extremely difficult to keep balanced. However, Gouron's battle hardened face could be clearly distinguished behind the snow.

"Gouron, I am William McGinnis, Admiral in command of the United Star

Ship Ticonderoga. We are some four hours from your planet, and have encountered a cloaked Romulan vessel. As this ship carries the best in Federation technology, I thought that I should offer the honor of destroying the Romulan to you, before I took action."

"Admiral," replied Gouron, "Consider the Romulan's appearance as a test of your vessel's capability, and your crew's honor. You are welcomed to destroy the trespasser, I hope that your arrival is not overly delayed."

"Understood, I will contact you before our arrival at your planet,"

McGinnis out.

After this communication, McGinnis turned his mind to the destruction of the unidentified Romulan ship.

For Cmdr Tomaluk, it was another routine supply mission, deep within Klingon space. His vessel and crew had made the trip at least twenty times, and it had always gone flawlessly. This run included parts for a new disrupter array, and some other spares that were needed by Family Durass' secret fleet. After Cmdr Sela's failure against Picard, the Romulan high command had decided that sending ships through singly was better than trying to send an entire fleet across the Klingon/Romulan border at once. Tomaluk, and his fellow commanders' recent success in delivering supplies was ample proof of the correctness of the plan.

"Commander, I have a disturbance off our port bow, bearing 43 mark 12," said the young female navigator.

"Scan it," snapped Tomaluk, coming out of his chair.

"It appears to be a subspace anomaly, growing in intensity as time passes," said the science officer.

"Cloaked ship?", demanded Tomaluk.

His answer came as a huge Federation-style ship appeared practically on top of his own vessel.

"Decloak..." he said, but the sentence never got the chance to complete itself.

"Sir, decloaking in three ... two... one..." said Schultz at tactical.

"Weapons, weapons control, auxiliary and secondary energy production systems on line, awaiting full charging cycle. We'll have to blanket the area, since we aren't exactly sure where the Romulan ship is."

"Understood, you may clear the computer to fire when ready," said McGinnis, hoping that the new, and largely untested, systems would work as well as Mycenae's weapons control systems always had.

"Firing now!" said Schultz.

Phaser bolts erupted from nearly twenty rapid-fire phaser batteries, and almost immediately thereafter, contained-plasma torpedoes flashed from the forward tubes. These weapons brought the Romulan ship out of cloak, effectively rendering the ship totally visible. power systems weren't affected, but this was of little import for long. Ticonderoga's main mega-collimator ring flared blue-white for less than a second, and then a brilliant white lance of energy connected the two vessels, disintegrating the entire Romulan ship on impact. Ten seconds after the firing had started, Ticonderoga was back on course for the Klingon home world, and the phase-cloak was coming back on-line.

"Sir, the Romulan ship has been neutralized, and it got no message off before its destruction. Because they were cloaked, they weren't able to handle our fire. I report that all weapons and weapons-control sensors functioned ... great!" said Schultz.

"Excellent Mr. Schultz, log your report, and stand down from red alert.

... Helm, increase velocity to warp 9.5, and give me a new ETA for the Klingon Capitol."

"Sir, at warp 9.5, we will arrive in-system in forty-seven minutes."

"Very well, get me Gouron on a double-secured channel, main viewer."

A moment passed while Commander Anders sent the transmission. Finally, the link was established, and she turned to the Admiral.

"Sir, Gouron on main viewer."

Because Ticonderoga was much closer to the powerful receivers on the Klingon home world, the transmission was clearer, but one could still see snow from time to time.

"Admiral, I did not expect that you would be contacting me so soon, how was the battle with the Romulan invader?"

McGinnis' reply was quite concise, "Short, and quite successful."

"Excellent news, Admiral, I look forward to seeing the first Federation warship in living memory."

"I look forward to giving you a tour of this vessel. We will arrive in your star system in approximately forty minutes, earth time. Am I to follow any unusual procedures once there?"

"I am told that your vessel has the ability to set down in deep water?"

"Affirmative, however we assumed that we would be ordered into orbit on arrival."

"No, we can provide better security for your ship at the special construction facility in the southern ocean."

McGinnis had heard stories about this facility from previous Federation officers who had visited there. It was a huge dome built under water, and was primarily intended to facilitate the construction of the new birds of prey. However, if what he had heard was true, it could easily accommodate twenty full-sized Klingon battle cruisers.

"Understood, I will have to contact your traffic control computers."

"We must contact your ship."

"Unfortunately, the new cloaking device makes it nearly impossible to

receive incoming hails, so it will be necessary to contact your system."

"Very well, I like the philosophy of commitment behind your vessel, Admiral," said Gouron.

"Yes, our inability to receive new orders does mean that once this ship is under cloak, Star Fleet is effectively committed to the use of this vessel. If it is better for your controllers, we can partially decloak, and receive transmissions, but we will be scannable on some wavelengths."

"Admiral, Too many dishonorable people now serve house Durass, and their masters. There will be many interested eyes turned skyward over the next few days. You are wise to remain fully invisible."

"Understood, once we are docked, I will contact you, but for now, I offer you the hospitality of this vessel at 1800 hours, Star Fleet Standard Time, for a meal and tour of inspection."

"I accept your invitation, and look forward to meeting the man who defeated the Cardassian fleet at Bajour."

"Gouron, the honor is mine, I shall see you at 1800."

"Understood, Gouron out."

With this, the screen changed to the running tactical view of Klingon space as Ticonderoga continued to streak toward the Klingon Capital.

"Commander Anders, contact Klingon central traffic and tell them hat we will need a course as Gouron directed."

"Aye sir, already in progress," she said a bit distractedly as she continued to try to contact the main traffic control center. As much as anything else, her difficulties were directly related to the fact that the ship was still out of communications range with the mainly in-system traffic net.

"Sir, I can't contact them as yet, it'll be about half an hour before we can get to them."

"Very well, keep trying and when you get through, contact me, I'll be in my quarters, Mr. Data, you have the Bridge."

Even before McGinnis could get to this quarters, the ship-wide intercom had announced in Data's voice,

"Admiral to the Bridge, please."

On his return to the Bridge, McGinnis retook his chair, and turned to his first officer.

"Mr. Data, you asked for me."

"Yes, Sir. As you can see, our long-range sensors have just begun to image the Klingon home-world. Apparently, preparations and construction are far greater than Star Fleet had been told previously. I have at least 100 long-range warship-class vessels on scan, including some of types not previously known."

McGinnis stared at Data in shock. If this were true, then Gouron's position versus those in his government who didn't trust the Federation was far worse than had been previously thought. Usually, limited information was passed back and forth on most projects, even secret projects like Ticonderoga's construction. However, information on new classes of ships, and build-ups of the proportion being reported had not been passed to him before their departure two days previously.

"Very well, scan everything, and before we get into the system, send a full report to Defense Command HQ, and copy it to the Federation Council, Star Fleet Commander, and Admiral Jellico at Star Fleet Operations."

Aye Sir, continuing scan. We are now four minutes from optimal reporting range, but it'll be very hard to get a message out without shutting off the phase-cloak."

"I know, so send it aboard a probe, we can't afford to decloak, especially as unstable as the situation on the planet appears to be."

"Downloading and copying data as it comes in, we are three minutes, thirty seconds from launch," said Data.

"Preparing probe for launch," said Anders from her station.

"Aft firing tube is clear for launch, charging cycle beginning," said

Schultz as he began the process of charging the torpedo launcher to send a communications boy back to Federation space at warp 9.9. This would mean that Star Fleet Command would get the news in less than three hours, assuming noon decided to destroy the probe on the way out.

A couple of minutes passed, and then Data's voice broke the silence prevalent on the Bridge.

"Information package ready for download. I have included some side notes on what we have received, and all is ready for launch."

"Very well, launch buoy," said McGinnis.

"Buoy away," replied Schultz.

The viewer shifted to an aft-directed shot of the small tubular object streaking away from the ship. All anyone could hope for now was that it would arrive in Federation space in time For Star Fleet to analyze the data, and hopefully send a second force of ships. There could be little question that the were on the war path, and that they would expect their Federation allies to send a comparable force of their own. The approximately twenty-one ships that had been promised were simply not enough.

"Sir, we are now one minute from sub-light speed, and should be able to contact Klingon in-system traffic control," said Thale.

"Ms. Anders, please contact Klingon control, and request a vector."

"Aye Sir."

Moments later, she turned to McGinnis.

"Sir, they're telling us to lock into their standard traffic net, and that their guide computers will bring us in."

"That's standard procedure, allow the link, ... helm, come to sub-light speed."

The great ship decelerated from high-warp, and most of the crew sat back to enjoy the ride. It wasn't often that they could simply sweep along, not concerned about accidents, enemies, or other things. Both Data and McGinnis were busy admiring the view outside, both natural and artificial. The planet was dry as compared with Earth, but there was still noticeable surface water. Orbital space was full of activity, both military and civilian. There was a truly staggering armada through which Ticonderoga was passing. No one was concerned about some of the close passes, simply because while phase-cloaked, the ship could not occupy the same space as the vessels that it was passing. If hull contact occurred, crews on both ships would think that they had seen a ghost image, rather than anything else.

As the journey continued, McGinnis turned his attention to the ocean toward which Ticonderoga was proceeding. As they drew closer, it became quite clear that there was no traffic in the entire basin, and this confirmed the importance that the put on their underwater base. Then the ship slowed, the computers apparently programmed to expect that damage would occur if a ship were to hit the surface too hard. Clearly, guiding ships in, even new Federation Star ships was not considered a sufficiently honorable task for a living Klingon to perform.

The great ship passed through the surface of the water, and then a communication came in from the on-duty computer tech maintaining the traffic control net.

"Federation ship, we can do no more for you, proceed to the base under your own navigation systems. May your stay here be successful."

"Understood, our nav computer is taking over now."

With that the channel closed and Ticonderoga was on its own.

"Helm, set course for the Klingon base, thrusters at one-quarter."

"Aye Sir."

Within ten minutes, the great ship was decelerating toward the massive under-water doors, which were as large, or larger, than those on Earth-1. Then, the doors opened, and Ticonderoga passed through, and into open air.

"Sir, I have a message from the base commander."

"Put it on, commander."

"Federation ship, you are to proceed to the fourth bay on your right, decloak and moor there."

"Understood, Ticonderoga out."

The ship slowed, then turned toward its docking bay. As the turn was completed, the cloak was shut down, giving the base commander a full view of the mighty star ship as it swept into the largest docking bay in the facility. The ship was quite impressive to say the least.

As long as the-class defender, but twice as deep, and with a far larger collimator ring surrounding the main hull. The multiple weapons implacements showed that the ship was, indeed, built for action. As it moved to meet the gangway, the great ship seemed to shudder for just a moment before coming to rest. With this action, the waiting could come aboard.


	4. Part 1: Chapter 4

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter IV:

The doors at Ticonderoga's end of the gangway opened silently, admitting Kern and his aide de campe. He had only been on one other Federation vessel, and it was immediately clear that this ship was nothing like Picard's Enterprise. Its corridors were narrower, there were gratings onthe floor, not the carpet that covered many of Enterprise's corridors. The structural members looked far heavier, and the over-all air of the ship was decidedly ... military. His attention turned to the tall human who was standing before him.

"Admiral McGinnis, I am Kern, son of Mog, Commander of this constructionfacility. I am honored to meet you."

"Kern, Son of Mog, I am Admiral William McGinnis, and your presence here honors us. ... Welcome to USS Ticonderoga. ... Would you like a brief tour of the vessel?"

"Yes, I would."

"Very well, I am expecting Gouron within the hour, but I shall take you for a brief tour before he arrives."

After his tour, Kern was even more impressed with the ship than he had when it appeared immediately outside his window. Although the computers ran too much of it, making it difficult for a warrior to fight an honorable battle, if the data on the fight with the Romulan ship were true, they had proven themselves worth it.

"Admiral, I am very impressed, I was not certain that the Federation was capable of building a true warship, after James T. Kirk's retirement. It is good to see that it is not as complacent as many would like to think."

"We haven't built many ships with a fully military purpose in a long time, and despite my own successes, I would hope that this ship will be the last. However, I believe that those like Picard had taken Star Fleet too far toward peace and exploration, and had forgotten that we are also supposed to protect and defend the members of the Federation. One wonders whether we would have been able to do so had the Romulans, Cardassians, and Ferengi decided to cause trouble at the same time."

"Personally, I doubt that you could have."

"Fortunately, we won't have the opportunity to find out. With the Cardassian military defeated, and the Ferengi talking peaceful profiteering, those problems should be solving themselves. However, the Romulans are beginning to pose a serious threat to both of us, and the..."

"Yes, The. Is the Federation going to send a larger fleet, now that you have seen The Klingon commitment to defending our people?"

"I haven't gotten a response to my report of your enhanced fleet strength, so I can't say for sure. ... We had better get to the transporter room, Gouron should be here any moment."

At this moment, Data's voice rang over McGinnis' communicator.

"Bridge to Admiral McGinnis."

"McGinnis here."

"Sir, Gouron reports his readiness to come aboard, he also wants to know where Kern is, as he wasn't at the base landing pad to meet him."

"What," said Gouron, ..."He was to beam to this ship, not come by shuttle."

"Well, let's get to the gangway before he waits any more," replied McGinnis, now beginning to understand how Gouron had managed to keep his somewhat difficult seat atop the Klingon Council.

Moments later they arrived at the ship's end of the gangway. The computer sounded honors, and Gouron stepped aboard.

"Gouron, I am Admiral William McGinnis, welcome aboard."

"It is an honor to meet you Admiral, I am pleased to have the responsibility of thanking you for your removal of the Cardassians from space."

"I am glad that they don't pose a threat to us in the current crisis, but their weakened state may make them easy for the Romulans to pick off, should they choose to do so."

"yes, that's true, and if they do, I trust that you will be able to defeat them again."

"Yes, I believe so, assuming that Federation forces aren't weakened by our current operations."

"It will be hard, but honor is never won by men who are afraid to take chances."

"True, but you know that I must tell you that Star Fleet Command would rather that the Klingon Empire wait to launch this offensive, The Federation has many ships under construction, but the fleet construction program won't get into full productivity until next year."

"That may be true for you, but we are ready to get our due revenge, and we would not appreciate it if the Federation refused to help us in our war."

"I am well aware of that, and I am ordered to offer you all possible assistance in your operations."

"I am pleased, we will be launching three days from today, so if you are able to strengthen your forces, you have time to contact your commanders."

"I shall do so immediately after dinner, and our tour. ... Shall we go to the observation deck?"

"Very well..."

After dinner, and the usual conversation that occurs at such occasions, Gouron called for everyone's attention.

"This has been a fine meal. We are quite impressed by the Gach, it is difficult to get food of this quality in the finest restaurants of the Empire. However, our time here is not meant to be spent eating. We are here to see this mighty new star ship and to talk about the final defeat of our common enemy. Admiral, I would like to see this ship of yours, and then to discuss our strategy, understanding that the size of the Federation contribution to our efforts has not been decided."

"An excellent plan, Gouron if you and your staff will follow me."

The party departed the observation bubble, located at the junction of the aft-most support strut and the mega-collimator ring. It proceeded to the weapons control center, which was almost too small to hold the ten Klingon and Federation officers.

"Computer, render a three-dimensional schematic of this vessel, highlighting weapons, defenses, power production, computer and structural items."

The computer immediately brought a hologram of the ship on line, with the specified systems highlighted.

"As you can see, we have fifty-seven rapid-fire particle phaser batteries, each is powered by separate fusion reactors, capable of providing all the energy that these systems can use. The reactors can also be used as secondary power supplies for the ship, should main or auxiliary power be knocked out. The ship has seven contained-plasma torpedo tubes, each has fifty missiles, whose range is twice that of the standard Federation photon torpedo. The plasma in the warheads powers the warp sustainer coil, so at maximum range, the torpedoes have half as much destructive potential as at launch. At launch, they have eighty megatons standard yield. The ship has four phaser collimators located on each face of the engineering hull, each is as powerful as a Galaxy-class star ship's main phaser collimators. The main weapon of this ship, as with the-class defender, is the phased collimator ring that surrounds the main hull. The ring has three times the destructive potential of the-class ships' main weaponry, making it nearly twenty times as powerful as a galaxy-class ship's weapons. The ship has triple shielding, which is operable in a two-layered configuration, meaning that we can maintain shielding if the should break one layer. We can make repairs while the other layers are being worked over by enemy weapons. The system is energy-expensive, and we have installed a new main energizer with greater output than has been seen previously to support this added energy demand. There is also an experimental short-duration forced quantum core for emergency power generation, should the main systems and the secondary fusion reactors be over-taxed. It can provide fifty percent of main power for four hours, and with all of this power production, we can operate every single weapons and defensive system aboard the ship at the same time. The benefits of such a multi-redundant scheme have always been obvious, but until recently, there has not been incentive to build such vessels. As you are aware, we also carry the new Federation phase-cloaking technology, which precludes use of our weapons while operational, simply because we can't hit anything while under phase-cloak. We also carry computer-control systems, power distribution systems, and communications relays. that are more redundant than anything previously seen in a Federation star ship."

"This is a very impressive design, how do you manage to fit so much into a hull this size?"

"Quite simply, crew quarters are extremely tight, and we use robotic systems to do as much work as is technically possible. This saves us nearly a thousand crew members, with all of the support systems that they require. The crew is only 400 strong."

"I assume that you have a internal defensive plan similar to that aboard the defender-class ships?"

"Yes, if life forms of a type designated as "enemy" by the command staff invade the ship, the computer has the ability to use force fields and phaser collimators to neutralize any boarding party."

"Admiral, this is the greatest development in military technology in the last thirty years, and I commend you on the fact that the Federation chose you to command it in its first, and most honorable mission."

"Thank you, I was much honored by their decision to wave the rules against flag officers commanding single unit ships. My orders state that this vessel is to act independently of the main fleet when I feel necessary. The remainder of Federation forces will be under the command of your fleet, as our only other fleet-rank officer has only recently received his admiral's commission."

"Excellent, I would like to see your other facilities."

"If you will follow me, ... Computer, end holo simulation."

As they left, the schematic of the ship disappeared. After traveling through the sick-bay, bridge, and engineering deck the party arrived at one of the holodecks.

"We use these for training, simulation, and research, more than recreation, although limited recreational programming is available. I believe that there is a simulation running here that you may be interested in. ... Computer, access holodeck thirteen, open doors."

The group was met with a particle blast from a blue-suited security member, whose bolt had just barely missed a soldier attempting to access one of the slots common in the corridor walls of their ships. The reason for the miss became obvious as another soldier slammed the security man aside. The security began using their grenade launchers, destroying soldiers right an left. The sonics couldn't be used aboard Ticonderoga, even in self-defense, they were simply too powerful. However, since the simulation was of a landing on a ship, anything went. The simulated grenades destroyed huge chunks of material, killing the soldiers as they approached. Finally simulated force fields came up, which kept the grenades from doing much damage. The security party then dropped a small "package", and called for emergency beam-out. The package was a kilogram of antimatter, and the blast from this destroyed a huge chunk of the vessel.

McGinnis watched the proceedings, thinking to himself that at this point the ship would be moving toward the ship in hopes of breaking through the subspace field in order to come out of phase-cloak in this huge cavity and rip the cube apart from the inside.

"An impressive battle Admiral, what was its purpose?" said Gouron, reminding him of the presence of the Klingon observers.

"We hope to send landing parties aboard vessels and then open a large enough cavity to allow a star ship to enter and blow the ships apart from the inside. The armor and shielding that the security troops wear will hopefull allow us to survive for periods of time aboard the ships. our simulation runs suggest that the armor will also allow us to repel large parties of boarders, should they break our shielding. We will, of coursse, destroy the ship before its capture, but if we can live to fight another day..."

"Yes, an admirable philosophy," replied Gouron. "Can you produce suits like these for our warriors?"

"No, but I can send the specifications to your manufacturing people so that you can build them yourselves, should this be acceptable."

"That is fine, I shall tell them to expect the information."

"Very well, shall we adjourn for this evening, I must confer with Star Fleet Command, and you doubtless have preparations to make."

"Very well, however, we must talk about strategy tomorrow, as soon as you know how many ships the Federation can contribute."

"Then I shall take you back to the gangway, and we will see each other tomorrow. I will await your transmission as to what time is convenient for you."

The party returned to the gangway, and Gouron turned to salute the ship as he left. His departing words to McGinnis were:

"I shall contact you tomorrow, I look forward to another meeting."


End file.
